Please note: we have been online over ten years, and we want The Trek BBS to continue as a free site. But if you block our ads we are at risk.Please consider unblocking ads for this site - every ad you view counts and helps us pay for the bandwidth that you are using. Thank you for your understanding.

Welcome! The Trek BBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans. Please login to see our full range of forums as well as the ability to send and receive private messages, track your favourite topics and of course join in the discussions.

If you are a new visitor, join us for free. If you are an existing member please login below. Note: for members who joined under our old messageboard system, please login with your display name not your login name.

This has been discussed before but Kes was never originally going to be written out of the show when they brought in 7 of 9 on. In fact there were already season 4 stories in the works for Kes. It was to be Harry Kim who was going to be killed off. Some of the producers didn't like Garrett Wang because he was often late for work and didn't bother to learn his lines (he was actually suspended from the show for two episodes in the third season for bad behavior) . But during the summer break between seasons 3 and 4, Wang was voted as one of People Magazine's 50 most beautiful people, so UPN basically told the Voyager producers they had to keep Wang. The decision lay with Jeri Taylor and she decided to write Kes out because she didn't like the character.

Jennifer's departure from the show was very messy. The whole cast knew one of them was going to go and once it was learned Garrett Wang had been saved, everyone thought Ethan Phillips would be let go. So much so, that Bob Picardo and Tim Russ were actually planning a goodbye party for him. Ethan Phillips and Kate Mulgrew talked about this at a convention I went to back in 2010.

Jennifer had no idea she was being written out. She went to work as normal the day production was to begin on The Gift and on her script there was a post-it note from Rick Berman that said something like "We'll miss you."

While Kes was a secondary character, I do felt the show lost something when she left. It would have been great seeing Kes and 7 interact but it wasn't meant to be.

People keep bringing up this story like its some horrible thing they kept garret wang because he was sexy. How many female characters in trek did noting but wear skimpy clothes and sit around? Guys, come on.

She might have been in old age make up/prosthetics for a couple seasons. Since she reacted to the ears and they had to stop using them that might have been an issue. I'm pretty sure we saw older Ocampas already so it's not like they could just say "oh they age visibly via hair growth, everything else is the same".

Some of the producers didn't like Garrett Wang because he was often late for work and didn't bother to learn his lines (he was actually suspended from the show for two episodes in the third season for bad behavior) .

Now wait a minute, is this actually documented anywhere? (Especially the bolded part.) This is the first time I'm hearing about it.

__________________Bashir: »Out of all the stories you told me, which ones were true and which ones weren't?«Garak: »My dear doctor, they're all true.«Bashir: »Even the lies?«Garak: »Especially the lies.«

Jennifer had no idea she was being written out. She went to work as normal the day production was to begin on The Gift and on her script there was a post-it note from Rick Berman that said something like "We'll miss you."

I find this incredibly difficult to believe.

Jen has said that her contract was not renewed. She would have known that long before she showed up for filming.

And not being invited to the up-fronts with the rest of the cast would have been another clue.

^^
It took about two years after the firing before Jennifer came up with a political correct statement about "contract not being re-newed". Before that, we only had the very vague and changing explanations from those in charge about why it was so necessary and beneficial to dump Kes.

And when did they take the upfront pictures for season 4?

What I've found out from certain reliable sources, it came as a surprise for Jennifer that she had been dumped and she was very depressed over it, something which is visible in the two first episodes of season 4 where her acting is not at the very best.

Another promising career down the drain.

But who cares, Voyager is gone since many years and there's always some new thing to watch, like NuTrek with the Kirk who look like my old school buddy Thomas or NuBSG with its uplifting and inspiring scenario for the future of humanity.

Or to be bored to death for one hour with Stargate Universe. Now wait, that one has gone down the drain too!

Just remember what Ray Davies of The Kinks once wrote:

But for those who are successful
be always on your guard
Because success walks hand in hand with failure
on Hollywood Boulevard

When I think of Voyager, it always seems like Kes' departure and Seven's arrival tends to split the series into two different series; and while there are more Seven episodes, I actually prefer the Kes era, since I think there was a freshness too the series (plus out of the two-parters and TV-movies I find "Future's End" (#1) and "Basics" (#2) too be the top 2 two-hour episodes) that left with Kes's departure and then we got all those old Janeway/Seven stories about their mother-daughter type relationship, plus many times I felt that the producers were just kicking back and just letting the show coast on he momentum that it had built up during the Kes era.

They should have let Kes mature, have a child, grow old and die during the series.

Why show a gun if you don't plan on using it?

Why have a short lived species if you don't show its consequences on the crew?

No!

They should have prolonged her lifespan and scapped that silly "nine-year lifespan" rubbish. It was totally unrealistic, didn't lead anywhere and had no impact on the series itself.

Not to mention that it was more than enough to have Naomi on the ship.

tomswift2002 wrote:

When I think of Voyager, it always seems like Kes' departure and Seven's arrival tends to split the series into two different series; and while there are more Seven episodes, I actually prefer the Kes era, since I think there was a freshness too the series (plus out of the two-parters and TV-movies I find "Future's End" (#1) and "Basics" (#2) too be the top 2 two-hour episodes) that left with Kes's departure and then we got all those old Janeway/Seven stories about their mother-daughter type relationship, plus many times I felt that the producers were just kicking back and just letting the show coast on he momentum that it had built up during the Kes era.

I agree. For me Voyager ends with "Worst Case Scenario". Then it became something completly different.

My computer has died, it is DEAD its life is over and I am in mourning now on this shitty dinosaur piece of crap. Could be worse I guess, at least I have plenty of spare shitty dinosaur pieces of crap for when something like this happens (never throw it out if it works kids).

When I think of Voyager, it always seems like Kes' departure and Seven's arrival tends to split the series into two different series; and while there are more Seven episodes, I actually prefer the Kes era, since I think there was a freshness too the series (plus out of the two-parters and TV-movies I find "Future's End" (#1) and "Basics" (#2) too be the top 2 two-hour episodes) that left with Kes's departure and then we got all those old Janeway/Seven stories about their mother-daughter type relationship, plus many times I felt that the producers were just kicking back and just letting the show coast on he momentum that it had built up during the Kes era.

It really is a series of two halves, and like you I prefer the former. When it became Star Trek: Seven of Nine (featuring Captain Janeway and The Doctor) I lost interest. Seven's arc was an interesting one, but she was just overused to the point where is she wasn't the cause of the situation in the episode she was the solution (or both).

Admittedly, had Seven been a hot guy walking around in little more than bodypaint, I may have watched it a little more closely.

When looking at characters to remove, they should have stuck with the "sexy" (really?) Kim. Failing that they should have thrown out Neelix; his role as guide was at an end, so all he had was cook and morale officer, neither of which was hugely important. Kes could have taken over morale duties and become more of a nurse/counsellor character, whilst a recurring character (or nameless extra) could have taken over the mess hall.